From ‘Pen-Paper to Digital’: How India’s First Digital Census will be Conducted

The Union Home Ministry today informed that India’s upcoming 2021 Census will be the first-ever digital Census in the country and there is a provision for self-enumeration as well. So, India is going all digital where technology is playing an important role in shaping the new India.

“The forthcoming Census will be the first digital Census and there is a provision for self-enumeration. Mobile App for collection of data and a Census Portal for management and monitoring of various Census related activities have been developed,” the Ministry of Home said in the Lok Sabha

What is a digital census?

The country’s 16th Census (Census 2021) will be done digitally. Till now, the process involved visiting every household and filling up forms. This year, workers going door-to-door will have tablets or smartphones that will let them enter information digitally.

For this, there is a provision for self-enumeration, a mobile app for the collection of data and a census portal for management and monitoring of various Census related activities.

How digital census will be done

Once the Census portal is made open, individuals can log in using their mobile numbers and fill up their details. In the Census portal, individuals will be required to fill in the form for population enumeration. Codes will be displayed on the screen to fill in the various options Once self-enumeration is done, an identification number will be sent on individual mobile phones. When the enumerator goes for the house listing exercise, the ID number can be shared, which will automatically sync all the data already filled online.

On February 1 2021, Nirmala Sitharaman, who presented the first paperless Union Budget 2021-22, said the forthcoming census — an exercise to determine the population of the country — would be the first digital census in the history of India.

“For this monumental milestone marking task, I have allocated ₹ ₹3,768 crore for Financial Year 2021,” Nirmala Sitharaman had said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier announced that the 2021 census will be conducted through a mobile phone application. The decision to move away from traditional pen and paper was taken to promote Digital India.

Source:The Mint